Stuck In A Moment
by landingzone
Summary: Stories of Will McAvoy and the two most important women in his life. A fluffy Will/Mac future fic.
1. Rainy Sunday

**Disclaimer: **Not mine. Don't sue.

* * *

**Rainy Sunday**

**April 2015**

A blanket of rain covered New York City this Sunday morning. Street vendors used tarps to cover their individual rickety stands. Early morning church-goers propped up colorful spring umbrellas that used the streets of the city as a canvas creating a colorful patchwork. Some die-hard runners in Central Park braved the rain in expensive H2-no gear. Other die-hard runners in Central Park braved the rain without any rain gear at all. Fog hung in the streets of the city, wrapping its sleek colorlessness around gray skyscrapers. Yellow taxis, contrasting the grayness of the city, splashed their tires through pooling puddles of raindrops. Indeed, it was a very rainy Sunday in the City.

Tucked away in an abyss of sheets and comforter in a king sized bed on the fifty-eighth floor of one of New York's many apartment buildings, Will McAvoy was just starting to stir awake. Sunday mornings were a prized time for Will. No broadcast on Sunday nights, no need to be in the office. Saturdays usually meant he would be called in for some reason or another, but Sundays were his day. He opened his eyes and the through the crack of the shades, Will noticed the gray sky. No Central Park today, he thought. With a quick glance, Will saw the green light of his clock read that it was 6:57 in the morning. Damn him, why could he never sleep in on weekends.

Just as well, Will thought as he rolled over to the sight that he arose to every morning for the past seven years. Being a wealthy, powerful man, Will knew full well if he wanted, he could wake up to any tall thin blonde cheerleader, porn star, movie actress, barbie doll he wanted. But that's not what he wanted. And that's certainly not what Will woke up to every morning.

Beside him, Mackenzie McHale was deep in sleep. Flat on her stomach, one arm under her pillow, the other strewn across the mattress, her hair fell into her face and her mouth was open just a little bit. Despite being wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, Will knew that beneath the layers of sheet and down comforter, her legs were curled and her soft blue t-shirt was probably riding up just a little to reveal her creamy silk stomach. A perfect model, she wasn't. But his wife and his most trusted partner, she was. And that was so much better than any cheerleader or movie actress he could ask for. Mackenzie broke his train of thought, muttering something in her sleep. Will smiled and brushed the stray piece of hair out of her face. Sunday mornings; time to be with the ones he loved, and the ones who brought him absolute peace.

"GOOD MORNING!"

Suddenly, Will found his nice king sized bed under attack. A small brunette figure, of no more than three feet was jumping atop him. Luckily, Will was protected under the blankets and burrowed down a little bit deeper. To no avail, the three foot monster kept jumping.

"Wake up!"

Will rolled his face over to his right side, and through the attack of the three foot monster muttered to a very asleep Mackenzie, "your daughter wants you to wake up."

No response.

"Mac?" Will nudged his wife's calf.

Mac shifted and moaned, cracked open her eyes glancing at the clock beyond Will, "at seven o'clock on Sunday mornings, Billy boy, she's your daughter."

"Daddy, wake up! It's Sunday!"

Will made a sudden movement and grabbed his daughter by her legs and she toppled atop him. Squealing and giggling, the young girl rolled off her father's stomach and onto the space between her parents in their bed.

As Will mercifully tickled his daughter, Mackenzie groaned something incoherent, "What was that, Mac?" Will asked between squeals from the girl.

"Give me one more hour, please." A desperate plea from a tired woman who only wanted to sleep in, Will decided he should probably appease her wife.

Elizabeth McHale McAvoy was a little spitfire of a four year old. A bundle of energy, she was always rearing to go on weekend mornings. An early riser, Will used the time to spend with his daughter. He was an older father, and knew there would be days in the future when her energy would tucker him out. So, he took the opportunity he had while still able to spring out of bed on a Sunday morning to spend with her.

"Alright Lizzy Bean, I think your Mom wants a little more sleep. How about we get crackin' in the kitchen?" Will whispered to his daughter.

"Okay!" A huge smile appeared on Lizzy's face. Will got out of the bed and Lizzy took the opportunity to spread out across her father's vacant side. Mackenzie, though still mostly asleep, rolled over to Will's side to give Lizzy a quick kiss and a hug. The young girl, still very much a baby at four, borrowed into her mother's embrace. As Will threw a sweatshirt over his t-shirt, he took a moment to smile at his daughter and his wife curled up on his side of the bed. Lizzy's small body was completely wrapped into Mackenzie's. Will, clad in his boxers and sweatshirt, took the time to revel in the sense of home and love he felt at the current moment.

"Alright Lizzy, I'm ready."

The girl perked her head up from her mother's embrace, and jumped off the bed, "I'll race you to the kitchen!" She exclaimed running out the door.

"Right behind you," Will chuckled. He leaned over the bed to give Mac a quick kiss questioning, "Breakfast in about an hour?"

"Mhmm, I'll be awake then," Murmured a smiling Mac.

"Okay, sleep well," Will gave her shoulder one last squeeze and followed his daughter to the kitchen. The McHale/McAvoy household was as homey as an apartment in New York City could feel. The hallway to the kitchen was lined with family photos and artwork both Will and Mac had collected from their various individual and joint travels around the world. A mask from Guatemala, a tapestry from Kenya, a picture of Will in a tux an MacKenzie in a white gown, a painting from Japan, a photo from the day Lizzy was born - it was certainly an eclectic mix. Puttering further down the hall, Will took in the floor-to-ceiling windowed view of the rainy city the living room displayed, and veered off into the kitchen area. Lizzy was perched one of the kitchen's black stools, anxiously awaiting her father.

"What are we going to make this morning, Daddy?"

"Hmmm," Will pretended to ponder the question while he made his way to the fridge and opened it, "I see some buttermilk, maybe pancakes?"

"Pancakes! Can we put chocolate chips in them?" Lizzy's big blue eyes stared up at Will. She may have inherited her mother's hair and smile, but the eyes were all his.

"Maybe, here help me crack the eggs," Will passed a couple of eggs and a bowl to his daughter. He was desperately trying to teach her how to cook. Mackenzie couldn't find her way around a kitchen to save her life, so Will saw it as his task to teach their daughter the basics. Watching as Lizzy took an egg in her small hand, Will placed his much larger one over hers and showed her to gently tap the egg against the side of mixing bowl, "See, and then you slowly open it," he let his daughter's delicate fingers splice the egg into two, "and then plop! ..." the contents of the egg spilled into the bowl, "you have a cracked egg."

Lizzy giggled while Will passed her another egg. With extreme concentration, the young girl went about cracking two more eggs. Meanwhile, Will put coffee up, knowing well that soon Mackenzie would appear begging him for the hot liquid. After flicking the machine on, he turned back to his daughter who had an inquisitive look on her face, "what's up bean?"

"Are we going for our walk today?" Lizzy asked Will while stepping down from purple-painted her step-stool she used to stand on while helping in the kitchen. Will pulled down the other necessary ingredients for pancakes from the shelves and started to measure everything out.

"Look outside bean, it's raining pretty hard," Will answered as he dropped flour into the bowl.

Lizzy climbed up on a nearby kitchen stool and managed to hoist herself up on the counter to sit next to Will and stuck out her bottom lip in her signature pout, "but what are we gonna do, Daddy?"

"Hey, get off the counter, your mom is going to kill you!" Will motioned for her to jump off.

"Mommy isn't up yet..." Lizzy countered. She was four years old and she could already come back at her dad, Will had to hand it to her.

"Okay, but don't tell her," He looked intently at Lizzy and gave her a spoon to start mixing the flour and eggs, "maybe we can play a game today, Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders or something?" Will suggested.

"Maybe, can we play guitar?" Lizzy asked with enthusiasm mixing the flour maybe a little quicker than she should have and flour flew into her face. Sneezing, Lizzy smiled as Will reached over and wiped the flour off her nose and cheeks.

"Careful there bean, I don't want flour falling all over floor."

"Tucker will just pick it up!" Lizzy referred affectionately to the family dog. Will sighed as he mentally reminded himself he needed to feed the medium-sized light brown mutt. When Mackenzie and Will were looking to move from Will's old apartment that they had lived in until she had found out she was pregnant and they decided it was time for something a little more permanent and homey, Mackenzie had made it a qualification that their building allow pets.

* * *

**Christmas 2013**

It had been a cold day in New York City. Snow had fallen covering the blanket in a quiet Christmas lull. The only motion from the streets were from the city's Jews heading to Chinese food and a movie. Will and Mackenzie had just returned to their new apartment after Christmas dinner with Mac's parents. It had been the first of many Christmas dinners between the newly-wed McAvoy's and older McHale couple. Mac's parents had decided to move back to New York after many years home in London to be closer to their unborn grandchild. Mackenzie was due in one month, and it would be nice to have her parents around for help considering both her and Will would have to go back to work eventually.

As they got off the elevator which dropped them into their apartment, Will walked immediately to the Christmas tree and flipped on the lights that he had put up a week earlier. Mackenzie's eyes twinkled as the dark apartment came to life with white Christmas lights, the tree the focal point, "you really have outdone yourself this year, Will, the lights are amazing."

"Well, this as handy as I get Mac, you know that," Will laughed as he sat down on the couch across from the tree.

"Oh, yes, I know that. Remember when that pipe burst in our first apartment?" Mac giggled lying down on the couch perpendicular to Will, splaying her aching feet across his lap.

"Yes, and I tried gallantly to fix it - "

"Gallantly," laughed Mackenzie, "okay, Lancelot, whatever you say."

"And then we called the plumber," Will shrugged and began rubbing Mackenzie's feet, "How you holding up, long day? Lots of kicking?" Will asked placing his free hand on her stomach as he leaned her legs.

"Always, looks like he's a soccer player of some sort," Mac placed her hand over Will's to guide it to where the baby was kicking.

"Or maybe she is going to be a karate master." Will felt the baby's kick and smiled in bewilderment.

"I think my parent's liked the names we picked out," Mackenzie and Will had decided not to know the sex of the baby, but they did pick out a name for a girl and a name for a boy - to be prepared, "I think my dad got a kick out of Elizabeth, I could tell he was thrilled at how British we were keeping it."

Will smirked and flipped his hand from under Mackenzie's from where it was resting on her stomach to intertwine their fingers, "I have one more Christmas gift for you, but I have to go downstairs to get it, can you wait?"

"Billy... one more Christmas gift? We said that all of our gifts this year were just going to be stuff for the baby, and then the donations," Mac was not expecting something else. They had done gifts this morning, the day was almost over.

"I know," Will said untangling himself from Mackenzie and standing up, "I'll be right back." Suddenly Will vacated the apartment, leaving Mackenzie alone on the couch completely confused. Less than five minutes later, Will appeared at the door again with a rather large box in hand.

"What is it?" Mac asked excitedly sitting up as Will walked across the room.

"If I told you what it was, it would kind of ruin the entire point of the gift, wouldn't it?" Will smiled as he placed the box in front of Mac.

"I guess, but, we did agree - no gifts for each other, I just feel guilty." Mac looked up at Will as he took he sat across from her on the coffee table next to the box in question.

"Just open the box, Mac, you'll like it." Will gave her knee a reassuring squeeze.

"If you insist..." Mac delicately untied the red bow from the white box and with a sure hand took the top off. She placed her hand over her mouth as she peered into the box and saw a small, brown puppy staring up at her with big eyes. She was at a lost for words and quickly picked the puppy up from the box and placed him in her lap.

"Well, do you approve?" Will questioned as she still stared down at the young dog in bewilderment.

Mac still was at a loss for words, and a few tears trickled down her face. After a minute or so, she managed to blurt out, "so this is why there were holes in the box?"

Will chucked and took a seat next to her on the couch petting the puppy and looping his arm around Mackenzie's shoulder, "I thought maybe he would be good practice, you know, since we're having a baby in a month."

"You didn't want a dog," Mackenzie looked up at Will, while still holding the puppy.

"Well, sometimes, we change our minds about things," Will said giving the puppy a quick pat on the head. "I think he's pretty cute,"

"Does he have a name?" Mac asked,

"Nope, I thought I would leave that to you."

"Tucker." Mac said without a beat.

"Tucker?' Will asked.

"I've just always wanted a dog named Tucker, it seems pretty all-American. Mom, dad, baby, and a dog named Tucker. It's kind of like we're out of a Rockwell painting." Mac smiled.

"I have news for you Mac - we're definitely not out of a Rockwell painting. But I love the name Tucker, and I love you, so it's perfect." Will looked down at Mac who was looking at their new puppy with such an air of love. Suddenly, the fact that in a month they would be looking down at a tiny little human, and not just a puppy, hit Will hard.

* * *

**April 2015**

Will was taken aback from his memory by the sound of Tucker's jingling collar coming into the kitchen to lick up the excess batter from the pancakes from the tiled floor. Lizzy finished mixing the batter and hopped off of the counter to play with her beloved pet. From the pantry, Will grabbed a bag of chocolate chips and handed them to Lizzy, "you want to add these to the mix before we pop them in the oven?

"Yes!" Lizzy excitedly grabbed the bag of chocolate morsels, sneaking a few in her mouth, stepped back up on her stool and mixed in the chips, "these are gonna be so good, how long until they're ready?"

"Probably about a half-hour," Will remarked preheating the oven.

"How long is that?" Lizzy still had a hard time with time, so Will made it easy for her.

"The same amount of time as a _Sesame Street _episode, or, half of your mom's and my show." Will explained.

"Hmph, okay, can I watch _Sesame Street_ until then?" Lizzy had a strict TV allotment, and Sunday mornings were not usually a time when Will and Mackenzie allowed her time in front of her favorite screened-device. But, Will had stuff to do in the kitchen and it would be a little while until the pancakes were done so he caved.

"One episode," Will held up a single finger in front of her face, "just one."

"Yes! Thanks daddy!" Lizzy gave her father's leg a quick hug and ran into the adjacent living room. There were many TV's around the McHale/McAvoy abode, but most of them were tuned to ACN, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. Only the TV in the living room was for recreational use, and it had many, many DVR'd episodes of Lizzy's two favorite shows: _News Night _and _Sesame Street_. When Will and Mac had to work late, which sometimes they did, Mac's parents would come over and watch Lizzy. If she was ever fussy, the easiest way to calm her down was to let her watch Will knock it out of the park on _News Night._ Between her father's soothing voice, and his coverage of subjects far above her preschool head, it was the best way to lull her to sleep.

Tucker followed Lizzy into the family room and settled next to her on the couch. Will grabbed the remote off the coffee table and flipped the TV on and chose an episode of _Sesame Street_ for Lizzy to watch. He grabbed the green blanket off of the side of the couch and tossed it to Lizzy who promptly snuggled up with it. "It'll be a half-hour, bean, don't fall asleep."

"Mhmmm." Lizzy responded distractedly as her favorite yellow singing bird and green frog came to life on screen. Will bent down and placed a quick kiss on top Lizzy's brunette hair and retreated back to the kitchen where he would start to cook the bacon, finish the coffee, and get a head start on the dishes. Once back in the kitchen, he powered on his iPod's dock which he kept in the kitchen for Sunday mornings. Usually, Will was an NPR and newspaper kind of morning guy. Not to mention the four flat screens he had in the kitchen area displaying the news every morning. But, Sunday mornings the TV's were switched off and his Wave player didn't send out the sounds of Morning Edition, but The Clash or The Who, or maybe a little Simon and Garfunkel. Today, rainy as it was, was a perfect morning for the latter, and soon enough the kitchen filled with the sounds of Art and Paul's guitars strumming "The Boxer."

Twenty-five minutes later, while Will was scrubbing the last of the batter off of the mixing bowl, he felt a pair of slender arms wrap around his waist and a head on his shoulder. He smiled, knowing those arms well, and leaned his head backward and over a little to place a light kiss on Mackenzie's cheek, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty back from the dead."

"Sleeping Beauty doesn't die Billy, she's poisoned." Mac rolled her eyes as she kept a firm grasp around Will's torso and buried her head into his back, taking in the scent of his old, blue-ratted sweatshirt.

"When was the last time I read a fairy-tale, Mac?" Will asked finishing off the dish and turning in her arms to face her.

"Well," Mac said as she looped her arms more tightly around her waist, "you do have a four-year-old daughter, they do like fairy tales."

"I have news for you, Mackenzie, that four-year-old in there," Will motioned his head towards the living room, "would much rather watch Bert and Ernie play with their rubber-ducky than Sleeping Beauty."

"That'll change before you know it, and soon enough she'll be bringing home her own Prince Charming, or Princess Charming I suppose, whatever she wants." Mac smiled.

"We have a few years before that," Will grunted, "you're practically writing us off as dead, Mac, she's only four."

"I'm just saying, time flies." Mac smiled reaching up on her tip-toes to give Will a quick kiss on the lips. Just as she was about to disentangle herself from him, he pulled her back into him and leaned in for a deeper kiss. Mac let a soft moan escape from the back of her throat as she felt Will's tongue run across the bottom of her lips. After a couple more seconds, Will released her, "okay, well that was a proper morning," Mac smiled as she straightened the t-shirt she was wearing, which she had hijacked from Will years before.

"That's what you get for wearing those yoga pants and my shirt." Will smirked as he made his way to the oven to check the status of the pancakes, "they're ready, you want to grab Lizzy? She's watching TV."

"You have to stop spoiling her with this Sunday-morning TV nonsense, she's going to end up more addicted to the television than we are," Mac said leaving the kitchen.

"Hey, at least it's PBS and not Fox News." Will retorted.

Mac walked into the living room and found Lizzie curled up on the couch with Tucker folded away in her favorite green blanket. "Good morning sunshine," Mac said as the credits from the _Sesame Street _episode flashed on the screen. Mac grabbed the remote and turned off the TV as she sat next to Lizzy on the couch and pulled the little girl on her lap.

"Morning Mommy," Lizzy said snuggling into her mother's embrace, "you're awake!"

"I know," Mac said pushing Lizzy's growing bangs out of her face, "did you have fun cooking with Daddy?"

"Mhmm, he let me put chocolate chips in the pancakes and sit on the counter," Lizzy said eagerly looking up at her mom, "but I'm not supposed to tell you, it's a secret."

"What's a secret?" Will asked coming into the living room and taking seat on the armrest of the couch next to where Mac and Lizzy were sitting.

"Nothing, just some girl talk," Mac smiled.

"Okay, well in that case, I guess all of the pancakes are for me then?" Will joked, "Tucker can have some too, come on Tuck," Will motioned for the dog who happily got off the couch for the prospect of food.

"No! Wait, Daddy I want pancakes too!" Lizzy scooted off her mother and chased Tucker and Will into the kitchen taking her rightful spot at the breakfast table. Mac followed and the three of them sat down to breakfast.

Will passed around the chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. Lizzy talked incessantly about what happened on the episode of Sesame Street she just watched. Mackenzie sipped her coffee quietly while exchanging brief smiles with Will. And Tucker, well Tucker was curled up across Will's feet waiting patiently for the family to be done with their meal in hopes that maybe they left some for him. It may have been a rainy Sunday in New York City, but the McHale/McAvoy family was lazily enjoying every minute of it.


	2. Working Monday

**Disclaimer: **Not mine. Don't sue.

* * *

**Working Monday**

**Februrary 2016**

It was Elizabeth McHale McAvoy's favorite day of the year: "take your daughter to work day." Ever since she was three, Lizzy would go into work with her mother and father for the whole day. She was spoiled rotten on this day. Interns who were trying to suck up to Will and Mac and would bring her candy to get on their boss's good side. Her Uncle Jim was always there and often let her play around on all of the computers in the News Night Bullpen. The best part of the whole day: Lizzy got to stay up super late and watch her father's broadcast from the control room with her mom. Indeed, it was the best day of the year. Santa had nothing on "take your daughter to work day."

Will and Mac didn't usually go into work before 9 am, considering they got off so late at night. So, the morning of "take your daughter to work day," Will, MacKenzie, and Elizabeth went out to breakfast at their favorite cafe two blocks down from their apartment. As the trio entered the small, quintessential New York cafe, Evan, their favorite waiter greeted them, "Well, what a surprise, a visit from the McAvoy's on a Wednesday morning."

"Good morning, Evan." Mac smiled as she helped Lizzy pull off her blue, snowflake hat and her matching mitten set and subsequently shoved them haphazardly into her purse.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" Evan asked as he grabbed a couple menus and had the family follow him into the seating area.

"It's 'take your son or daughter to work day,' Evan!" Lizzy eagerly replied, "Best day of the year, so I'm going to work with mom and dad."

"Ah, so you're playing hooky from kindergarten, I see?" Evan eyed Lizzy over his black rimmed glasses as the family sat down in their favorite booth in a secluded back corner.

"Just for today, we've got a broadcast to do." Lizzy said matter-of-factly taking the menu, pretending to peruse it.

Will chuckled as he took his seat across from his wife and daughter, "Lizzy is going to help us come up with the best rundown News Night has seen all year."

"What will you be featuring on the newscast tonight, Ms. McAvoy?" Evan asked playing along.

"Hmmm," Lizzy picked up her fork and twiddled it, pondering the question, "maybe a report on which school lunch is the best?"

"That sounds riveting," Evan amused his young customer, "I'll let you guys have a couple minutes with menus and I'll come back to take your order."

Will and Mac quickly perused the menus and ordered what they always did, an omelet for Will, toast and yogurt for Mac, and peanut butter with toast for Lizzy. Their food was delivered and the family sat and ate. Will and Mac had molded Lizzy to their morning routine. So, as Mac looked up from her international section of the Times to see if Will was done with the national portion for their daily trade, she momentarily watched her daughter chucking away at the comics. Lizzy was reading on a basic level, but she could manage the comics - and, if nothing else, she loved the pictures. Although their breakfast didn't contain a whole lot of talking, it was one of Mac's favorite parts of the day.

* * *

Eventually, the three made their way from the small coffee shop to the Atlantis World Media building. Will had been death-threat free for a few years now, and no longer required a bodyguard. To celebrate the fact that he didn't need to driven around in an extravagant Escalade anymore, Will had bought himself a decently modest Lexus - or, as modest as a Lexus could be. Everyday, Will and MacKenzie drove into work together - except, sometimes, Mac had random urges to take the Subway (which Will let her do on her own). After parking in AWM's lot beneath the tower, the family rode the elevator to News Night's floor. Lizzy was ecstatic - even though she lived on the fifty-eighth floor of a New York high rise, pushing the button for the elevator never got old. Never ever.

Lizzy was no stranger to the News Night office - so the entrance of a six-year-old girl to the newsroom required no explanation. Will and Mac had an odd schedule - they would come in at ten in the morning, and work until three when they would pick Lizzy up from school. The three would go home for two hours of family time. Sometimes they would take Tucker for a walk in the Park, or go grocery shopping, or maybe just hang out together while Will made dinner. At five on the dot they would sit down to a family dinner. Mac's parents would come over at quarter 'till six, and Will and Mac would go back to the office for the 6 pm rundown, do the broadcast at 8, wrap up at 9, and get out of the building by 10. A nine-five job, it wasn't, but it worked and gave Lizzy the time she needed with them given their hectic schedule.

"Uncle Jim!" Lizzy exclaimed as she saw Jim when she exited the elevator.

"Lizzy!" Jim was equally excited to see his honorary niece. As the elevator doors closed behind them, Lizzy jumped into Jim's arms, "You're getting big there kiddo, won't be able to do this for much longer." Jim readjusted Lizzy's growing body and turned to Will and Mac.

"Happy 'take your daughter to work day'," Mac smiled at Jim.

"Ah, is that what today is?" Jim nodded.

"What are you doing down here, shouldn't you be working on, you know, running Elliot's show?" Will asked as they stood in the elevator pit of the News Night floor. Don had left ACN a year earlier - he didn't stray too far, he was producing Anderson Cooper's newly rebranded 9 pm show on CNN. After some lobbying from Will, Elliot took Jim as his new Executive Producer.

"Just wanted to drop something off for Maggie." Jim explained as they all made their way into the News Night bullpen. Jim and Maggie had danced around each other for far too long. Don and Sloan also had danced around each other for far too long. Jim and Maggie were now engaged; Don and Sloan would be there any day now, if Don could work up the courage to ask the question.

"Lizzy, why don't you come hang out with me while I check my email and then we'll meet back up with Dad for the morning run down?" Mac asked her daughter.

"Okay," Lizzy stated plainly and then turned to Will, "I'll see you later, Daddy."

Will, though generally tried to keep his displays of affection to a minimum around his staff, let his daughter give him a bear hug to which he returned the favor. "Have fun with Mommy, I'll see you soon." He gave Lizzy one last squeeze before he released her and she ran over to Mac. With a guiding hand on her shoulder, Mac ushered Lizzy into her office.

For today, Mac allowed the staff to have the morning rundown at eleven, as opposed to ten. This had allowed their breakfast out, but now it was time to work. Luckily, Mac had a special drawer in her office just for Lizzy which contained magical items such as a 64 pack of Crayola crayons and endless notebooks filled with stickers.

Mac led Lizzy into her office, took off both her own and Lizzy's jackets, and turned to her daughter, "So kiddo, we've got an hour until the rundown. I've got to sift through some emails and do boring stuff like that, how about you color for a little while. I know Daddy has an empty space on his closet door that he's been looking to fill with a picture from you."

In Will's office, he had a closet where he stored extra sets of suits and shirts among other semi-useful things. To maintain his hard-ass reputation, Will kept his Lizzy shrine away from the curious eyes of visitors to his office. Will had two pictures on his desk which reflected any sense of his private life: Lizzy's school picture, and a picture of Mac and Lizzy on the beach from a vacation they once took. However, when the door to his office was opened, Will appeared the sappy father he was at heart, Lizzy's colorfully hand-drawn pictures were pasted everywhere.

"Do you think Daddy would rather a picture of a horse or one of Tucker?" Lizzy asked as Mac handed her the crayons from the Lizzy drawer of her desk.

"I think he'll like whatever you draw, Miss Picasso, he even adores your scribbles from when your were a tiny little Lizzy." Mac said sitting down at her desk preparing to sift through her emails.

"You think so?" Lizzy giggled while setting up shop on the floor of Mac's office next to her desk.

"I know so, now get to work or you won't have the picture done for the rundown." Mac ordered in a false, stern voice.

"Of course, boss." Lizzy replied and diligently set herself to work on a picture of the family dog for Will.

* * *

The day had passed without a hitch. As always, Lizzy was welcomed in the office. The staff was happy, Lizzy was happy. It had been a great day. Currently, Will was perched on the corner of the couch in his office. An arm on the armrest sipping a cup of coffee, and the other arm extended in front of him, reading through his nightly script. As his eyes quickly scanned the document looking for errors before it was sent to the prompter, he heard a knock on the door, "Come in," Will said absentmindedly.

"Hey," Will looked up when he heard Jim's soft voice and also noticed he was giving a sleepy looking Lizzy a piggy back ride, "sorry to bother you but our visitor here has requested your presence. Someone is a little tired."

"I'm not tired," Lizzy said as she picked her head up from where it was resting on Jim's shoulder.

"Okay, Madam, whatever you say," Jim gave Will an ominous look that said it all - she's tired, she needs a nap, or she won't last the night.

"Let me off my steed, servant," Lizzy demanded from Jim. The two were playing Lizzy's favorite game of princess and horse - where Lizzy was the princess, and Jim, well, the horse.

"Of course Madam," and Jim bent down and Lizzy gracefully slipped off his back.

"Thanks Jim, I'll take it from here," Will said and Jim gave a slight wave and as the younger man ducked out of the low-lit office, "So, you're tired, huh?"

"I'm not tired, Daddy, I just wanted to," Lizzy's mouth opened as her sentenced paused and she yawned like there was no tomorrow, "hang out with you."

"All evidence to the contrary, looks like you're pretty wiped out. Here, come sit."

Lizzy sighed and abided, puttering over to the couch and taking a seat next to her dad. Eyeing the paper he had in his hand, she looked inquisitive and looked up to Will and asked, "What's that?"

"Every night before the broadcast, while your Mom works with the Team getting all of the graphics and last-minute technical stuff together, I run over the scripts we have pre-written for the show." Will explained, "So, I'm just trying to familiarize myself with all this stuff." He pointed to the text on the papers in front of him.

"That seems like a lot of work," Lizzy yawned again stretching her legging-clad legs across the couch, perpendicular to Will.

"It can be," Will said matter-of-factly, momentarily jealous of how relaxed his six-year-old daughter looked sprawled on the couch, "I'll tell you what," Will rolled up his shirtsleeve to glance at his watch, "it's 7:00 right now, I don't go into final make-up until 7:45, why don't you take a quick nap, bean? You can stay here on the couch while I do this final prep."

"Can I take my shoes off?" Lizzy asked looking up at Will.

Will chucked and pushed Lizzy's hair out of her face, "Sure Bean, go for it."

Lizzy proceeded to kick off her white and pink Stride-Rite kid's sneakers and curled herself into a ball against Will with her head resting on his lap, "Daddy?" Lizzy looked up at Will before succumbing to sleep.

"Mhhmm?" Will put his paper down for a moment as he glanced down at Lizzy, and briefly smiled taking in the girls small frame against his much larger one.

"Why aren't you in your suit, you're always in your suit when you're on the TV?" Lizzy looked deeply confused, her eyebrows raised and her bottom lip caught between her teeth - a trait she inherited from her mother, no doubt.

"Well, I change right before the broadcast, suits aren't very comfortable." Will explained simply.

"Good, I like this sweater," Lizzy said wrapping her arms as best she could around Will's torso and nuzzling deeper into his leg, "it smells like you, and it's blue, I think it's my favorite sweater you wear."

Will smiled down at his daughter, sometimes she had these little moments where she said these unique things that just made his heart melt. This was one of those times. He draped his free arm over Lizzy's small torso and hugged her a little closer to him, "I'm glad you like it bud, it's pretty old, older than you actually," Lizzy just nodded quietly as her eyes fluttered closed, "Enjoy your nap, I'll wake you up when it's time to get ready to go on air."

Lizzy just nodded and Will went back to reading his pre-scripts while gently rubbing soothing circles over Lizzy's back to lull her to sleep. It was funny, Will thought, right outside his office were young bustling newsroom staffers getting everything together for the show, and here he was sharing a quiet moment with his daughter. Lizzy was getting older, and Will knew that the days of her cuddling up with her old man would soon diminish. So, he reasoned that he would take every moment in as he could. Thirty-five of those precious moments passed while Will continued to read his script as Lizzy dozed peacefully beside him before Will heard the door to his office open. Looking up from his notes, Will gave a quick smile as Mac quietly came into the room.

"Prepping hard?" Mac eyed Will jokingly.

"Well, it's been really, a very stressful day," Will smiled back.

"Jim told me she was a little cranky, I'm glad you got her to take a nap," Mac said as she sat down on the couch next to Lizzy's feet. Suddenly perplexed at the sight of her daughter's shoeless feet, Mac questioned Will as to where her sneakers went. Will put his scripts down and absentmindedly fiddled with Lizzy's hair which was spread out over his lap as he pointed to the ground where the small sneakers were laying. Laughing quietly, Mac furrowed her brows, "What is it with kids and wearing shoes, is it really that difficult?"

"We should do a study on it, maybe have a panel come on the show and discuss the habits of six-year-olds and their shoes." Will mocked.

"See, sometimes, you think you're funny... but really, you're not." Mac smiled back.

"Hey, don't rain on my parade," Will smirked, "I have the polling data to prove that I am the most likable anchor on TV."

"And where would you be without me?" MacKenzie countered, eyeing Will playfully.

"Ah yes," Will nodded, "you have a point there."

Mac looked down at her watch, "It's 7:40, you've got to get to make-up and I have a couple of graphics I just want to run by you real quick so I'd like to get you into the studio by five 'till."

Will sighed and glanced down at Lizzy, "Do you want to do the honors?"

Sighing, Mac replied, "Oh, so you get to be the nice parent who puts her to sleep, while I have to be the mean face to wake her up," Will just plainly shrugged as Mac ran her hand repeatedly up and down Lizzy's back, "Lizzy, it's show time pumpkin, time to get up."

Elizabeth only borrowed deeper into Will's leg, and in response Will thought it would be a good time to come in for some reinforcement, "Bean, we gotta get on the air, we got a show to do."

"And, you'll get to wear the fun headset and talk into Daddy's ear the entire time about which American Girl doll you want for Christmas," Mac smiled at Will, who just rolled his eyes in response.

"Isn't Christmas a long time from now?" Lizzy rolled over on Will's leg so she was on her back looking up at her dad and then forward to her mom.

"Well, a few months from now I suppose," Mac said reaching on the ground to retrieve Lizzy's sneakers, "but you can still harass your dad about which doll you want." Mac gently slipped Lizzy's sneakers on her feet to which Lizzy protested.

"I want to tie my shoes!" Will and MacKenzie had been trying for some time know to teach Lizzy how to tie her shoes, and she was finally getting the hang of it. Sitting up, freeing Will's legs, she curled herself into an intense upright seated position and began focussing on tying the laces.

"The more superior bunny ear method or your mom's way?" Will asked as he stood up from the couch and walked over to the adjoining bathroom to begin changing into his suit.

"Bunny ear way, duh!" Lizzy said as she finished her shoes. Mac smiled and gave her a high-five - despite the fact that she learned to tie her laces in Will's moronic fashion, MacKenzie was still proud of her daughter, and equally impressed with her husband's ability to pull out the patience to teach such a seemingly simple task to a six-year-old.

"What do you say we go set up shop in the control room?" Mac asked Lizzy and the young girl simply nodded and sprang up off the couch and began to walk out of her father's office. Following behind, Mac made a quick pitstop to peek into the door of Will's bathroom where Will was ripping the dry cleaning packing off of his suit for the broadcast, "Hey, Lizzy and I are going to head to the control room, see you on camera in fifteen minutes," Mac pointed a finger in Will's direction for emphasis, "fifteen mister, no excuses." Will nodded to show his agreement and Mac turned on her heels and led Lizzy out of the office and into the bullpen.

* * *

"Terry Smith is coming up with Capitol Report from Washington, I'm Will McAvoy, goodnight." Will signed off the broadcast in his general fashion, flicking his pen and paper atop his laptop. However, what was unusual was the voice coming into his ear -

"Good job, Daddy. I think that was one of your best broadcasts yet."

Indeed, it was odd being praised by his daughter upon finishing a show. However, some would say it was odd that his wife was the one that was usually filling that role. So, maybe he was just completely unconventional. He smiled, he didn't care. Conventionality could go to hell.

* * *

It was just before 10 pm and the McHale-McAvoy family was en route home. Will drove as Mac sat quietly next to him. The sounds of WNYC's nightly broadcast filled the car, and had lulled Lizzy right to sleep. "She had a good day," Mac remarked, looking back at Lizzy who was curled up with her purple fleece blanket she kept in the backseat of the car.

"She always does." Will smirked as he pulled into their apartment building's garage.

"Can you imagine just feeling that innocent and happy all the time?" Mac questioned.

Will just scoffed and pulled into their space, "No, but at least we get to experience her innocence and happiness all the time. Plus, having you around doesn't hurt much either."

Mac just smiled and reached her hand across to Will's neck and gave it a quick rub, "I love you, Billy."

Parking the car and turning the ignition off, Will smiled and closed to space between himself and Mac, "MacKenzie, you have no idea," and with that he captured his wife's lips in his own. It didn't matter if they had been married for a while, or that they had a daughter, or that they went through a bunch of shit way-back-when, kissing Mac could never get old, Will thought, Never. And, living this life with her, would never get old either.


End file.
